First meeting of the UCLG Africa Culture Committee in Brazzaville 

On 9 and 10 July 2025, at the invitation of Mr. Dieudonné Bantsimba, Deputy Mayor of Brazzaville, the meeting of the Culture Committee of United Cities and Local Governments of Africa (UCLG Africa) was held in Brazzaville, Congo. The meeting was honoured by the presence of Ms. Fatimetou Abdel Malick, President of the Nouakchott Region in Mauritania and current President of UCLG Africa. 

The meeting, held under the theme ‘Culture at the service of Local Government Development,’ was opened by Gilbert Mouanda-Mouanda, Prefect of the Department of Brazzaville, representing the Minister of the Interior, Decentralisation and Local Development. 

The UCLG Africa Culture Committee, chaired by the city of Brazzaville, brings together local authorities that have volunteered to promote the culture agenda at the local authority level and contribute to making it the fourth pillar of sustainable development, as well as joining the campaign to make culture one of the sustainable development goals. To date, 22 local governments from 17 African countries have joined the UCLG Africa Culture Committee. 

The first meeting of the Culture Commission focused on defining the Commission’s priorities for action, organising its governance, and its role in preparing, designating, and defining the programme for the celebration of African Capitals of Culture. 

At the end of the meeting, the following important decisions were taken: 

• The provisional office of the Culture Commission has been established. It is chaired by the City of Brazzaville and has as Vice-Chairs the City of Rabat, Morocco, and the Municipality of Yopougon, Côte d’Ivoire. 

In addition, subcommittees have been set up to deal with the priority areas of action of the Culture Committee, as follows: 

1. Subcommittee on Governance and Financing of Regional Cultural Policies. Chair: Brazzaville, Congo; Members: Dakar, Senegal; Municipality of Douala 1, Cameroon.
2. Subcommittee on Cultural Heritage, Conservation, Preservation and Promotion. Chair: City of Foumban, Cameroon; Members: City of Rabat, Morocco; City of Dakar; Municipality of Douala 1st.
3. Subcommittee on Cultural and Creative Industries. Chair: City of Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo; Members: Municipality of Yopougon, Côte d’Ivoire; Municipality of Douala 1er, Cameroon; City of Dakar.
4. Subcommittee on Cultural Education and Access to Culture. Chair: Municipality of Yopougon, Côte d’Ivoire. Members: Municipality of Douala 1, Cameroon; City of Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo; City of Foumban, Cameroon.
5. Subcommittee on Digital Transformation and Innovation. Chair: City of Dakar, Senegal. Members: Nouakchott Region, Mauritania; Municipality of Yopougon, Côte d’Ivoire.

Mr. Hugues Ondaye from the City of Brazzaville has been appointed as interim secretary of the Culture Committee of UCLG Africa. He is assisted by two deputies: Mr. Ibrahima Cisse from the City of Dakar and Mr. Christian Nzau Lembe from the City of Kinshasa. 

The meeting adopted a three-year work plan (2026-2028) based on the promotion of concrete experiences carried out by local authorities in the five priority areas identified above. 

The members of the UCLG Africa Culture Committee were informed that the second meeting of the committee will be held at the end of the year in Kinshasa, DRC, and the third meeting in January 2026 in Nouakchott. 

The members of the culture committee present in Brazzaville had the opportunity to visit the Potopoto painting school and the construction site of the multimedia cultural centre. 

On the sidelines of the Commission’s work, a meeting was held on 11 July 2025 at the European Union Delegation to the Republic of Congo in Brazzaville. The meeting was attended by Ms. Anne Marchal, Ambassador and Head of European Union Cooperation; Mr. Giogio Ficcarelli, Principal Administrator, Culture and Intercultural Dialogue, European Union; Mr. Jordi Pascual, Culture Commission Coordinator, UCLG World; Ms. Valeria Marcolin of Culture and Development, technical partner of UCLG and UCLG Africa in the field of culture; and Mr. Jean Pierre Elong Mbassi, Secretary General of UCLG Africa. 

This meeting provided an opportunity to inform the European Union delegation about the results of the work carried out by the UCLG Africa Culture Committee, in particular its 2026-2028 work plan, as well as short-term initiatives, including the celebration of the African Capital of Culture. This meeting explored possible areas of cooperation with the European Commission, particularly with regard to increasing the impact of the African Capital of Culture celebration on Brazzaville’s international influence in the field of culture and its knock-on effects on intermediate cities in Congo. The meeting also provided an opportunity to discuss giving a cultural dimension to the Global Gateway projects in Congo.